Pakistan polio tally reaches 64 after fresh case reported in Sindh

Pakistan reported another wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in Sindh’s district of Jacobabad, taking the country's total number of cases to 64, the health authorities reported on Wednesday.

The new case reported in the district is the fourth case of the year, taking Sindh’s tally to 18.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s poliovirus cases also stands at 18 with 26 children affected in Balochistan. Islamabad and Punjab have reported one case each so far this year.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme explained that polio is a “paralysing” disease with “no cure” and “the completion of the routine vaccination for all children under the age of five” just provides them “high immunity against this terrible disease”.

Pakistan has taken strict measures to administer polio vaccines as the last countrywide vaccination campaign of the year kicked off on Monday with an aim to administer vaccine against the crippling disease to about 44,000,000 children across the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday announced the launch of the anti-polio drive by administering drops to children in Islamabad.

Around 400,000 polio workers across 143 districts of the country will visit every household to administer polio drops to the children below five years, as per Prime Minister's Focal Person on Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq.

She requested the parents to open their doors and fully cooperate with the polio teams in this campaign.

Kick-starting the immunisation drive in Sindh, the provincial Health Department said on Monday that the seven-day anti-polio campaign will last till December 22, during which around 16 million kids will be administered anti-polio drops.

The health department said 80,000 frontline workers will go door-to-door to vaccinate children, while 15,000 security personnel will accompany them for their protection.